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Intravesical chemotherapy for bladder cancer is when the treatment is given directly into the bladder with the help of drugs that are in liquid form. Intravesical chemotherapy is chemotherapy in which the doctor puts the drug into the bladder with the help of a catheter. The main benefit of this method of chemotherapy is that the treatment does not have any side effects on other organs or other parts of the body.

So far this method of chemotherapy has been only used in treating bladder cancer, especially in the non-invasive stage (Stage 0) or minimally invasive stage (Stage 1).  If this form of treatment is used for later degree therapy then it might not be the only treatment given but in early stages of bladder cancer, it is often the only treatment given.

Procedure

The procedure for this form of treatment is simple. You, as a patient, will receive a dose of the drug in liquid form, straight into the bladder.

You will then be asked not to pass urine for the next 2-3 hours. After that duration, most of the drug will leave your body in urine. Some of the drug will remain in your bladder and it could cause some side effects.

There are two main methods of intravesical chemotherapy. The first one is where Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is used. BCG is also the vaccine used to treat tuberculosis (TB). This particular treatment is believed to activate the body’s immune cells into fighting the cancer. There is no threat of contracting TB during this treatment but when you urinate after the treatment, disposing the urine properly is important so that you do not inject live TB into the world. Other chemotherapy drugs are also used in this form of chemotherapy.

Side Effects

When going through the treatment, you might feel irritation in the bladder like an infection. About 10 percent of the people who receive this treatment also develop an allergy rash from it. Flu symptoms along with fatigue are also noticed while some notice blood in the urine.

In this form of chemotherapy, the cells of the bladder do get affected with the chemotherapy but the cells outside the bladder do not get affected. Conversely, if there are cancerous cells on the outside wall of the bladder or even in some of the connected organs like the kidneys or the uterus or even the urethra, those will not get affected or cured with this form of treatment.

Reference

• http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/bladder/HealthProfessional/page6

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